Misplaced Pages

Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
Taxes
Adet-i Ağnam Adet-i deştbani Ashar Avarız Bac-i pazar Bedl-i askeri Cizye Cürm-ü cinayet Damga resmi Gümrük resmi Haraç Ihtisab Ispendje Istira Maktu Mururiye resmi Muskirat resmi Nüzül Otlak resmi Rav akçesi Resm-i arusane Resm-i bennâk Resm-i bostan Resm-i çift Resm-i dönüm Resm-i filori Resm-i ganem Resm-i hınzır Resm-i mücerred Resm-i sicill Rusum-e-eflak Selamet isni Tapu resmi Tekalif-i orfiye Temettu Tuz resmi Zakat
Implementation
Ahidnâme Defter Emin Evkaf-i Hümayun Nezareti Hazine-i Hassa Hazine-i Amire Hane Iltizam Istira Kadı Kanun-i Raya Kanunname Malikâne Merdiban Millet Muafiyet Muhassil Muqata'ah Mütesellim Ottoman Public Debt Administration Regie Company Siyakat Sürsat Tahrir Tanzimat Waqf
v t e

Malikâne was a form of tax farming introduced in the Ottoman empire in 1695. It was intended as an improvement on the Iltizam system, in which a tax-farmer was responsible for a single year. Malikâne contracts were for life; this provided more security for the tax farmer (malikaneci) and a less exploitative relationship with the peasants; malikanecis might even make investments to improve productivity. However, vested interests - from existing mültezims who benefited from the Iltizam system - prevented wider adoption of malikâne. Also, malikâne could not be converted into vakf - an important distinction from mülk.

A malikâne tax-farm, typically for a village or district, would be auctioned to the highest bidder; in return for collecting all state taxes (rüsüm) from that area, the winner of the auction would make a large downpayment called muaccele, and then annual payments called mâl. The auction determined the initial payment - subject to a minimum price set by the treasury. A malikaneci might finance their initial payment by borrowing from a moneylender or sarraf - who would expect to take a cut of the tax revenue; this could even become a second layer of tax-farming.

The winner of the auction was given a document called "berat", as proof of their right to the tax-farm. In theory, when the tenant died their tax farm would revert to the state, but a tenant could give the tax-farm to an heir if the treasury agreed (and officials would expect to be paid for their agreement).

As the tax-farming market became more competitive, the treasury collected bigger payments, but profitability for tax-farmers decreased.

The malikâne system may have been modelled on an earlier system of "double rent" paid by waqfs.

From the treasury's perspective, malikâne was a more reliable source of revenue. Auctions of local tax-farming rights had the effect of integrating diverse provincial tax-farmers into the Ottoman state, and also helped build a more modern concept of private landownership.

References

1. An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire. Barnes. 1987. p. 67. ISBN 9789004086524.
2. State and Provincial Society in the Ottoman Empire: Mosul, 1540-1834. Cambridge University Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780521894302.
3. An Introduction to Religious Foundations in the Ottoman Empire. Barnes. 1987. p. 68. ISBN 9789004086524.
4. A Comparative Evolution of Business Partnerships: The Islamic World and Europe, With Specific Reference to the Ottoman Archives. 1996. p. 168. ISBN 9789004106017.
5. State and Provincial Society in the Ottoman Empire: Mosul, 1540-1834. Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9780521894302.
6. A Comparative Evolution of Business Partnerships: The Islamic World and Europe, With Specific Reference to the Ottoman Archives. 1996. p. 164. ISBN 9789004106017.

• Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
• Land management in the Ottoman Empire
• Tax farming
• 1695 establishments in the Ottoman Empire